Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-10-08

Peace and kindness were her portion and
bodily health a full and precious boon In
no asylum the world affords could this poor,
stricken wife and mother have had better
conditions for her ultimate cure than here.
There was nothing to arouse her dormant
faculties to make her remember that she was.
or ever had been mother.
In this peaceful if humble place Henriette
Laroque lived eight long years. Barely "a
wears old when this crushing blow fell upon
her, she was now y, but time was gentle with
her, and the absence of wearing thought,
coupled with her healthy life, left her far
freshcr and younger il appearance than she
bad been lefore she became demented.
II was in 1872 that the tragic events we
have narrated took place, and we take up the
thread again III 1881, and follow Roger La
rogue and his little girl, who eight years be-
fore in a stormy night left France for
America
One day, quite unexpectedly, tall man,
with wide shoulders with hair and bead
white as SNOW, though he was not Old enough
TO have had such q mark OF age, alighied
from the tram 1T a station in the charming
little valley town Of Che,reuse. With hin,
wa a beautiful young s.rl, whose age would
was in reality not yet L. They were
both strangers, and as such attracted consd
cradle attention from the loun-ers about the
station, who were equally strhck ny the
beauty ana distinct ION Of tie Young girl and
the peculiar appearance of the man Not
only We're his hair and beard white, but his
face was horribly dstigured by what seemed
scars from a burn
They walked toward villa which was for
sale and examined 1t with view to its pJIr
chase, AMI iii a few days they were installed
there as the owners.
As is usual in sniali Villages, the people Of
this charming valley soon found out all about
their new neighhnr, who had bought the
White House, AS the villa was called, and they
told each other that he was rich Canadian
who had come to France with his daughter.
Els name was William Forney, and that Of
the daughter Miss Suzanne Forney. He,'
mother was dead
" hen they were settled in their new home
NJ Forney asked his daughter if she thought
she should feel happy in her new home. She
replied:
"Wherever you are | am happy, and feel
| sure that we viii both he happy here"
| The father bowed his head and looked
| tenderly at his daughter, sitting "A sigh. As
| the reader will have OWNED, this father and
| child were the same who had fled from
| France on that dreary night, Roger Laroque
| and Suzanne.
| V hen Roger had left France for the second
! time, and a fugitive from justice, carrying
/ ms precious bura,4 be took passage for New
| orls, where he STAYED but n shpFt time and
| then went to Gambia. where he went
| to work in a machine shop with a
| sort Of avidity, hoping to regain fortune
| and return to France with the one pur-
pose of discovering the mystery of the
! drama of the Vile d'Avlay.
Such energetic and intelligent labor was
hound To achieve its result, and one after an
other Roger made three important Inventions
i'll the making and management of steel. He
| returned to New York, and he succeeded with
his inventions beyond his most sanguine
| hopes, and he found himself in the possession
of a reasonable fortune, with every reason t1
believe that it would grow and multiply into
| more than he should ever need
While here Roger met with an accident
which disfigured him SO greatly that he felt
almost as ii it were Il special providence. Hs
had rushed to assist in saving some people
whose escape from burning building wa.
cut off, and after having brought them down
TO the street in safety, burning timber fell
striking him on the left side Of the face, ant
burning it so that the scar which remained
almost destroyed the entire symmetry anC
color of that side of his face.
He moved away from that place and agsiI
returnefte New York, only now b. bore the
name of William FoI1ey, and Suzanne in 6
few years seemed to forget that she had even
had another name But did she really for
get3 Roger felt sure she had, for during
these whole tea Years she had never made thu
slightest mention, nor gwen one look thai
might give rise to u suspicion that she re
membered. So Rogers mind was easy OF
that score.
One day Roger said t. her quite uneEpect
eddy:
Suzanne, We are going to leave New Iori
and go to Paris, place you know nothing Of
What do you say3'
Il shall like to go whenever you do, father
no matter where it Is
She said that calmly, and nothing in he
face showed a hidden thought, yet, afte
Roger had gone out. her face saddened, and
"a retrospective look came into tine depths o
her lovely violet eyes
They reached Paris, and Roger went boldly
about, knowing himself unrecogni2able, ant
on a solid footing as far as his identity wa
concerned, He was received as q rich Ameri
can Canadian who had made his fortune b.
Inventions relating to steel.
Roger want everywhere, and no one knew
him. He passed the very judges who has
questioned him, he went t. the concierge o
his old apartment where Julia had left tn
fatal money, and where he had lived SO long
but the concierge answered his trifing que5
tons as if to a stranger. He went to his Old fac
tory No one knew him His uncle. Der
nardit, had sold the factory just before hi
death, which took place some two years I've
fore, and Rogers heart drew him toward til
Old place 1t was the hour for dinner and tn
worimen flied past him, hut though the,
looked curiOusty at the man standing there
none OF them knew HIM, though he coul,
have called them nearly all by name
This and the regret caused by the death o
old NJ Bernardo and his wife saddenet
Roger greatly. This noble and kind OLE
couple had invented a story about havin.
put Suzanne III a convent school, and TIL
neigiibors never Questioned Its truth. s.
everything Conspired to aid Roger i'll his new
liEe.
One day Roger told Suzanne to not fee
uneasy if he was not home as early a
usual, that he wished to look at some coun
try houses and might lie detained. This wa
while they were still at the Hotel Scribe
The truth was that he wished to wait unit
night fell and 20 TO Vile Array and knet
by poor Hengiette's grave, which he ha
never seem but which was holy ground t
him.
All the late afternoon he wandered abou
the little village into the woods behind an
beyond the house where he had lived Tn
house was closed and the beautiful garde
had run to weeds. Desolation and neglec
were marked upon the place, and R0ge
could not bear tue sight of his once charm
ing home thus gone to decay. He wandere
to the edge of the town to the little grav,
yard, but until night fell he dared not go /
the tomb lie searched. The moon rose an
by its light he discovered grave surrounde
by an iron grating, and on the marble eros
hidden by weeds that grew rank over ii
poor martyr beneath, he found the name
his wife He sank down and laying his far
on the cold damp grass wept for his youn
, wife, whose death now seemed more real I
him than it ever had Beore He gathered
handful of the rank coarse weeds and kisse
them and placed them in his pocket and ro
, to 20, with heavy heart, for she had die
believing him guilty. He had turned to q
when he thought he saw woman's fgul
moving among the graves. His heart stoC